Media Release, Research Story

$2.9 million for new collaborative research

Ten new research projects led by the University of Adelaide have today been awarded more than $2.9 million in Federal funding, with projects spanning the fields of environment and ecology, water, agriculture, finance, health, genetics and marketing.

The funding has been announced in Round 2 of the Australian Research Council's [1] (ARC) Linkage Projects [2] scheme for 2009.

The successful projects and funding are:

• Environmental Genomics: mining, climate change, water, crime and health
  $500,000 to Professor Alan Cooper (ARC Federation Fellow, School of Earth & Environmental Sciences [3]; and Director, Australian Centre for Ancient DNA [4])

• Role of alanine aminotransferase in improved nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) in cereals
  $480,000 to Dr Brent Kaiser (Senior Lecturer, Discipline of Wine and Horticulture [5])

• Reduced water consumption in commercial malting processes
  $450,000 to Professor Geoff Fincher (Deputy CEO of the Australian Centre for Plant Functional Genomics [6] (ACPFG))

• Proteomic analysis of central nervous system inflammation in multiple sclerosis
  $375,000 to Professor Shaun McColl (Microbiology & Immunology Professor, School of Molecular and Biomedical Science [7])

• Phylogeography and host specificity of stemborer parasitoids: essential components for the pre-emptive biocontrol of sugarcane pests in Australia
  $265,000 to Professor Andrew Austin (Professor, School of Earth & Environmental Sciences [8])

• Ecology, Physiology and Phylogeography: an integrated approach to the study of the invasive marine green macroalga Caulerpa taxifolia in Australia
  $218,000 to Dr Fred Gurgel (Research Fellow, School of Earth & Environmental Sciences [9])

• The history of North Stradbroke Island's wetlands: defining natural climate variability in south-east Queensland and improving ecosystem management
  $200,000 to Dr John Tibby (Senior Lecturer, Discipline of Geographical and Environmental Studies [10])

• Early warning of cyanobacteria blooms in drinking water reservoirs by means of evolutionary algorithms
  $198,000 to Associate Professor Friedrich Recknagel (Associate Professor, School of Earth & Environmental Sciences [11])

• Can sponsorship deliver Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)? Examining internal and external perceptions of sponsors' CSR
  $156,840 to Professor Pascale Quester (Executive Dean, Faculty of the Professions [12])

• Survival of Australia's family farms: capital raising and credit access
  $99,982 to Professor Ralf Zurbrugg (Professor of Finance, Business School [13])

"This is a welcome boost for collaborative research funding at the University of Adelaide," says the University's Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) [14], Professor Mike Brooks.

"In addition to the $2.9 million announced today, the winning projects also stand to collectively receive more than $6.3 million in cash and in-kind contributions from collaborative partners, including industry."

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Professor Alan Cooper (ARC Federation Fellow and Director, Australian Centre for Ancient DNA) has been awarded $500,000 for his collaborative project on "Environmental Genomics".
Photo by Randy Larcombe.
Full Image (51.22K) [18]